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There was a time when many of
us were accustomed to sitting through lectures but do not have the same
concentration span anymore. Just imagine
how students feel after sitting through multiple classes listening but without
the possibility of participating.
That kind of meeting or class
comes under the umbrella of what is termed a lecture. A general definition of a
lecture is a class where the speaking is done exclusively by one person in the
front of a room. The audience listens and may even take notes, but does not interrupt
the flow of talk. The lecture is common in college settings where the
instructor, usually a doctorate in the subject, presents material to students
that sit in fixed seats attached to pull-over trays to take notes in a 'lecture'
hall. When you have a chance look at online postings of students in college
lecture halls to see their body language. Do they look excited?
If the definition is extended
to the middle and high school levels, the lecture entails a teacher doing a
significant amount of talking but with some modification. The smaller class
size in secondary schools allows for worksheets, quizzes, and discussions because
they can be facilitated in this setting. Many of us took classes like this with
variations in the amount of these procedures.
This model existed because it
was taught in university schools of education. It was the most straight forward
route to go with young people that had no teaching experience. The best
practices model emphasized organizational facets of the lecture: clarity of
presentation, classroom discipline, rhetorical style, and school management.
Recent adaptations include the wave of technology and probably cooperative learning.
It is the intent of these
posts to emphasize the value of interpersonal activities in the school
environment, particularly the classroom. Brain research shows that cooperative
learning stimulates cognition but extended lectures do not. The face-to-face setting
promotes social interaction, and this is rewarding because of the reinforcing
statements of the members as contributions are made. This motivates students to
continue to concentrate and participate because it sets in motion the elaborate prefrontal cortex-midbrain
interaction that secretes dopamine, the neurotransmitter that helps the
individual stay on task to achieve the reward. The variation of cooperative
exercises creates novelty and the brain responds positively.
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It is probably not until
about fifth grade that the lecture is used more extensively in the classroom,
and in large part because content areas are stressed. Content areas require
specialization and the students move to different classrooms to be taught by a
content area specialist. People that major in specific disciplines in college
(science, history, English, art, world language, and mathematics) are best
suited therefore to teach these classes.
The lecture method I am
referring to is not the parochial college professor style mentioned earlier but
the inclusion of one or more of these: worksheet, quiz, video, or teacher
modulated discussion within the classroom period. When structured carefully
this combination pedagogy has a level of novelty that can effectively nurture
assimilation of content among a group of students. There is homework and class
management elements, too.
Teaching five classes a day
can be a demanding experience for any educator. There might be instances when a
topic area requires an entire period of teacher talk. I do not believe that many educators in
secondary schools lecture the entire length of a period day after day, however.
That would be exhausting. One teacher who taught in this manner confided to me
that he would be okay until November when he burned out and took a few sick days with flu symptoms.
Studies have examined the
limitations of the lecture method. Among them are:
· Attention to what is being said decreases as the
lecture proceeds. McKeachie, in his
summary of decades of research in the college setting, found that students
retain 70% of information in the first 10 minutes of a lecture; the retention
is only 20% in the last 10 minutes. Note-taking decreases during the lecture as
well. [1]
· The lecture is suited for the more intelligent and
auditory oriented individuals with the audience noticeably less attentive over
time. This means that a substantial number of students are not deriving much
benefit from the course. [2]
· The lecture at best tends to focus on the lower-level
of cognition and learning because it presents factual material and does not
allow students to analyze, synthesize, or integrate the subject during that
period. [3]
· The lecture is impersonal because one person talks and
the audience does not engage in conversation. [4]
Though these are studies from
college settings where lectures prevail, the same limitations occur in
secondary schools. The college student often has no more than three lecture
periods per day and less on alternating days. The middle or high school student,
however, is in five or more classes per day. Even if the amount of lecturing in
this setting is less per period, the student nevertheless is involved a
considerable amount of one way instruction for an entire school day week after
week for an entire the school year. It is this minimizing of the social discourse in many
adolescents that makes their educational experience uninspiring, or even
boring.
Maintaining a good focus in a
lecture-dominated school culture can be accomplished if you are accustomed to frequent
lectures and motivated to achieve a high grade in a class. The mind can be
disciplined to sustain concentration if the auditory sense is exercised
repeatedly. For that reason lectures can
be an effective means to transfer knowledge particularly when well organized
and properly sequenced. Here are some ways to maximize the effectiveness of a
lecture:
· Students should be taking notes in a designated spiral
notebook or better yet, use an outline handout with spaces to write notes. This
helps the student to understand how the content is relevant to the overall
theme.
· Plan the lesson to cover a reasonable amount of
content.
· Use overheads and other graphic representations like
PowerPoint because they can assist in the clarification of topics including
spontaneous annotations added to these graphics. This would be particularly
useful in mathematics and science courses where symbols and step-by-step methods
are taught.
· Inform the students at the beginning of the school
year the extent that the lecture notes are correlated with assessments such as
quizzes and tests versus the textbook or other resources. Teach them how to take notes in your
discipline.
· Limit the instructor talk to shorter intervals, and
then engage the students with a discussion, worksheet, video, or reading for
several minutes. Resume the lecture, if
necessary, to add more content.
This post has looked at both
the positive and negative elements of the lecture. It can be particularly
beneficial when coupled with cooperative or individual learning procedures. An
aspect of a student's educational experience is to develop auditory cognition
and be able to absorb and evaluate ideas as a person is speaking. A well
planned lecture can be a means to enhance that thinking process.
In addition, while the
cooperative experience promotes a range of communication benefits, individual
tasks allow for mediation to foster independent thinking and processing. In
particular, it nurtures high levels of concentration and engagement of memory. Coupling a lecture with cooperative or
individual sessions is a sound practice since it works at a number of levels:
listening intently, working alone, or sharing knowledge with peers.
There are a number of
combinations here that can be mixed and sequenced to keep the intensity level
high for the range of the period.
1. A lecture interval
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2. Cooperative or individual
work (as described in the previous post)
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· Worksheet completion of objective questions
· Quiz with objective questions
· Reviewing last night's homework
· Worksheet completion using sentences and
paragraphs – Short responses
· Essays
·
Review for a test
· Research report
· Introduction of a topic
· Jigsaw
Combining various activities
in the classroom can sustain the level of novelty to keep students motivated
every day. Studies have shown that reliance on lectures as the predominant mode
of transferring knowledge minimizes interest and holds the attention of a
fraction of the audience – the more auditory-intelligent students.
Though students can become
better listeners with practice, use of cooperative learning uses more
analytical thinking as the members challenge each other to come up with new
ideas and ways to solve problems. Shorter lectures are recommended to improve
auditory processing, and coupled with individual or group learning heightens
the novelty of a lesson.
References
[1] McKeachie, W. (1986). Teaching tips: A guidebook for the beginning college teacher. Boston: D.C.
Health
[2] Verner, C., Dickinson, G. (1967). The Lecture, An Analysis and Review of Research, Adult
Education, 17, 85-100.
[3] McKeachie, W. Kulick, J. (1975). Effective College Training. Review of research in
Education. . Itasca, IL: Peacock Press.
[4] Stones, E., (1970), Students' attitudes to the size of teaching groups. Educational Review,
21(2), 98-108.
